Tweet
Good results, but the Captain should be carefule
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Jamaicans are understandably pleased with the results and, indeed, the overall performance of the national team in the first two outings of what is being described as the start of the campaign to reach the FIFA 2014 Brazil World Cup finals.
Football followers will recall that at the start of the month, the Reggae Boyz got going with a creditable 1-0 win over Canada in Kingston.
But paradoxical as it may seem to some, the triumph in Kingston must take a back seat to the 1-2 loss to global powerhouse and two-time World Cup champions Argentina watched by 35,000 people in Mar del Plata on Wednesday night.
Such has been the evolution of Jamaican football down the years, and especially since qualification to the France World Cup in 1998, that the national team is expected to beat Canada in Jamaica.
For obvious reasons the expectation is very different when opponents such as Argentina are contemplated -- especially in their backyard. So that in the lead-up to Wednesday night's game, there were many Jamaicans who feared defeat by multiple goals.
As it turned out, the Jamaicans, having scored through Mr Ryan Johnson's header at the start of the second half, not only held a 1-0 lead until the final 10 minutes but looked every bit the part.
The Argentines dominated possession and created far more chances. But that was expected. The plan was always for the Jamaica team to be tight, compact and to hit on the counter. What was admirable was that until late in the second half when physical and mental exhaustion set in, the Jamaican players stuck to the plan, keeping their form and doing exactly what they had to do.
Even with the falling away in form as the game progressed, the Jamaicans would surely have come away with a positive result had the goalkeeper, Mr Dwayne Miller, not fallen below his usual standard.
Some will say this was an Argentine side without their best players who operate professionally in the top European leagues. That's true. But the Jamaicans were also without many of their top players, including several who play in England and also others now in pre-season preparation for the North American and Scandinavian leagues. A notable absentee because of pre-season training was the goal-scorer in the victory over Canada, Mr Luton Shelton.
In any case, Argentina's club leagues, from which coach Mr Diego Maradona's squad was drawn, is among the world's best.
Even as we recognise the quality of the Reggae Boyz' performance against Argentina and Canada, we feel obliged to congratulate the irrepressible president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, for managing to arrange such quality opposition. He has said that he intends to keep the national team busy in the build-up to the start of World Cup qualifiers and he is off to a good start.
We would be remiss though, were we to ignore a discordant note struck by the Captain in the aftermath of Wednesday night's game.
We refer to the Captain's pledge to "instruct the technical committee (of the JFF) to... concentrate on a group of players with purpose. Players who are serious, who are determined..."
We are hoping that the Captain's choice of words reflects merely an unfortunate slip of the tongue. For this sounds suspiciously as if the Captain has plans to interfere in an area in which he should have no remit.
As we understand it, the Captain and others in the political directorate of the JFF have no business instructing the technical committee for football, or for that matter the coach, on anything remotely resembling player selection.
Once that line is crossed, Jamaica's football can end up in all sorts of confusion. A man of vast experience in football administration, Captain Burrell should be well aware of this. If by some chance he has forgotten, those close to him should remind him.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...--2010_7414975
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Jamaicans are understandably pleased with the results and, indeed, the overall performance of the national team in the first two outings of what is being described as the start of the campaign to reach the FIFA 2014 Brazil World Cup finals.
Football followers will recall that at the start of the month, the Reggae Boyz got going with a creditable 1-0 win over Canada in Kingston.
But paradoxical as it may seem to some, the triumph in Kingston must take a back seat to the 1-2 loss to global powerhouse and two-time World Cup champions Argentina watched by 35,000 people in Mar del Plata on Wednesday night.
Such has been the evolution of Jamaican football down the years, and especially since qualification to the France World Cup in 1998, that the national team is expected to beat Canada in Jamaica.
For obvious reasons the expectation is very different when opponents such as Argentina are contemplated -- especially in their backyard. So that in the lead-up to Wednesday night's game, there were many Jamaicans who feared defeat by multiple goals.
As it turned out, the Jamaicans, having scored through Mr Ryan Johnson's header at the start of the second half, not only held a 1-0 lead until the final 10 minutes but looked every bit the part.
The Argentines dominated possession and created far more chances. But that was expected. The plan was always for the Jamaica team to be tight, compact and to hit on the counter. What was admirable was that until late in the second half when physical and mental exhaustion set in, the Jamaican players stuck to the plan, keeping their form and doing exactly what they had to do.
Even with the falling away in form as the game progressed, the Jamaicans would surely have come away with a positive result had the goalkeeper, Mr Dwayne Miller, not fallen below his usual standard.
Some will say this was an Argentine side without their best players who operate professionally in the top European leagues. That's true. But the Jamaicans were also without many of their top players, including several who play in England and also others now in pre-season preparation for the North American and Scandinavian leagues. A notable absentee because of pre-season training was the goal-scorer in the victory over Canada, Mr Luton Shelton.
In any case, Argentina's club leagues, from which coach Mr Diego Maradona's squad was drawn, is among the world's best.
Even as we recognise the quality of the Reggae Boyz' performance against Argentina and Canada, we feel obliged to congratulate the irrepressible president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, for managing to arrange such quality opposition. He has said that he intends to keep the national team busy in the build-up to the start of World Cup qualifiers and he is off to a good start.
We would be remiss though, were we to ignore a discordant note struck by the Captain in the aftermath of Wednesday night's game.
We refer to the Captain's pledge to "instruct the technical committee (of the JFF) to... concentrate on a group of players with purpose. Players who are serious, who are determined..."
We are hoping that the Captain's choice of words reflects merely an unfortunate slip of the tongue. For this sounds suspiciously as if the Captain has plans to interfere in an area in which he should have no remit.
As we understand it, the Captain and others in the political directorate of the JFF have no business instructing the technical committee for football, or for that matter the coach, on anything remotely resembling player selection.
Once that line is crossed, Jamaica's football can end up in all sorts of confusion. A man of vast experience in football administration, Captain Burrell should be well aware of this. If by some chance he has forgotten, those close to him should remind him.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...--2010_7414975